Of the eight palettes Pantone released along with its 2016 colors of the year, only palette #5 also contains that old standby Navy Blue. The rooms I found using this palette had an extra sense of calm and precision because of it.

Interestingly, palette #5 was also the only palette to contain four neutrals (half of the entire palette!)—all in the brown range, two cool and two warm:

Simply Taupe, with cool gray overtones

Semolina, a warm beige, like coffee with lots of cream

Fallen Rock, a darker version of taupe

Russet, a warm brown with red overtones

Altogether, palette #5 has two pinks, two blues, and four neutrals. If you’re thinking that might limit the look this palette could produce, think again.

Stay off of my blue suede sofa

I’m cheating a bit by including this photo, since it contains some apple green not in the palette. But the rest of the room expressed the palette so beautifully that I thundered ahead. I love how the faux painting technique on the walls combines Semolina and Simply Taupe to simulate the look of dressed stone blocks.

The only pink present, is, of course, the vase of flowers, but it’s just the right pop. The branches in the white vase pull in Russet and Old Rose, and I love how the square of the light blue accent rug is repeated in the small throw pillow on that GORGEOUS blue suede sofa. It’s a truly elegant room that looks comfortable and liveable all at once.

All in the ‘trophy’ fabric

A vase of flowers is almost the only pink in this room, too, unless you look closely at that centerpiece pillow, which pretty much takes in the entire palette. This photo appeared in Absolutely Beautiful Things by Anna Spiro and is a classic example of how she likes to build a room around what she calls “a trophy fabric.”

I love those little Delft houses on the nightstand, don’t you?

Pretty in Pairs

The Pink Pagoda

I love the symmetry of this family room, which was redesigned as part of a One Room Challenge in 2011. I think it’s interesting that it still doesn’t look dated, and the liberal use of navy blue has a lot to do with that. Nothing could be more timeless than blue and white Chinese pottery, the feel of which spills over into the paisley throw pillows and the patterned area rug.

Furnishings are traditional, but the painting, which surely dictated the pink accents, lands the room squarely in the 21st century. A flanking of vases, jars, and identically dressed windows allow it to assume the center stage it so richly deserves. See/read more about this redo at The Pink Pagoda.

About face!

Frenchy Fancy

This bedroom couldn’t be much more different in style than the two rooms we’ve seen so far, and yet it still makes uses of about the same color palette. Navy blue is a natural for plaid. Pink and rose? Not so much, but it’s cozy and homey here.

I love the eclectic gallery wall topped by the painting of a headless woman. (All the prettier in pink!) And because I’m a lover of visual (or all kinds of) puns, I can’t help but chuckle at another picture in the grouping that’s a head only, as well as a similar bas relief. See/read more about this home at Frenchy Fancy.

Truly effortless style

This family room reminds me of my daughter, who manages to look great even when she’s just rolled out of bed. Not sure where she gets that—certainly not from me—but she’s always been that way. Believe me, I’ve walked behind her at the grocery store and watched the men’s heads turn, starting from the the time she was about 13. (I stared back at them until they noticed me, then gave them VERY disappoving looks.)

Anyway, if this room marched down the store aisle it would draw a similar response, only from harried mothers of two or more toddlers longing for a room their children couldn’t muss no matter how much they played. Effortless style—that’s what it exudes, which isn’t surprising since it’s from the home of HGTV host Emily Henderson and appeared in her book Styled.

At the moment, I have a serious crush on that indoor tree, though my back aches just wondering how it got moved into place. I hear there are some lecherous guys hanging around grocery stores…

All signs point in

Another Anna Spiro bedroom from Absolutely Beautiful Things with another trophy fabric—this time in the coverlet, which has a fun midcentury modern vibe.

Yes, I cheated again—there’s no yellow in this palette—but the strong use of navy blue arrows in the euro pillow seemed to pull me in, and I went! That chair makes a very cute nightstand, don’t you think?

Custom mix

More blue-and-white Chinoiserie mixes beautifully with a bevy of kilim pillows in Old Rose, Rose Quartz, Russet and Simply Taupe. The wall color is called “Parsonage Pink” and was custom-mixed for Architect Ben Pentreath’s Dorset home by historical paint consultant Patrick Baty.

Hot and bothered

My favorite part of this room is the drapery fabric banded in the hot pink. I’m also a pushover for anything hot pink, so I have my eyes on the throw pillows with the navy blue banding as well. This room is a classy mix of elegance and fun, right down to the birch logs in the Chinoiserie fish bowl.